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Recent research indicates that Mercury may have a 10-mile-thick diamond layer beneath its crust, based on data from NASA’s MESSENGER spacecraft
Scientists from China and Belgium, publishing in Nature Communications on June 14, 2024, propose that Mercury's interior might contain a thick diamond layer
Diamonds form from carbon under extreme pressure. Mercury's proximity to the sun exposed it to a high-carbon environment
Scientists believe that a magma ocean and the planet’s metal core crystallized into diamonds due to the intense pressure within the planet
The rocky planets typically have three main layers: core, mantle, and crust. On Mercury, the high pressure at the core-mantle boundary may have turned the mantle into diamond
If diamonds exist on Mercury, they would lie hundreds of miles below the planet's crust. Thus, accessing them would be impractical with current technology
Diamonds are not unique to Mercury. Scientists believe that Earth may also have a diamond layer at the core-mantle boundary
Uranus and Neptune might contain diamonds in their cores, while Jupiter and Saturn could have diamond chunks in their atmospheres
Diamonds have been found in meteorites as well. In 2022, scientists identified diamonds in four meteorites collected in North Africa